1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a waterproof connector, and more specifically to a waterproof connector provided with a sealing packing inside a connector housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the conventional waterproof connector, for instance, a female connector housing is formed with an opening mated with a male connector housing and further with an inside wall having holes through which metal terminals are passed. Therefore, when the male connector housing is mated with the opening of the female connector housing, the terminals housed in the female connector housing can be engaged with other terminals housed in the male connector housing.
Here, in the case of the waterproof type connector, a rubber sealing packing is usually disposed in contact with the inner wall of the female connector housing at a corner portion (at which the inner wall and the circumferential wall of the female connector housing intersect each other) in such a way as to enclose the metal terminals. Therefore, when the male connector housing is mated with the female connector housing, since the front end portion of the male connector housing is brought into tight contact with the packing housed in the female connector housing, it is possible to seal a space between the front end portion of the male connector housing and the inside wall of the female connector housing.
In the waterproof connector of this type, the connector housing is usually formed with some (e.g., two) through holes in the outer circumferential wall of the female connector housing to support the packing in position within the female connector housing and further to confirm the correct position of the assembled packing in the connector housing. Therefore, the packing is usually left exposed outside through these through holes.
When the waterproof connector as described above is used under the normal condition (e.g., normal sealing condition), there exists no problem. However, when the waterproof connector disposed under an engine of an automotive vehicle is exposed to a high-pressure washing water jet stream, for instance, since a high pressure water is directly jetted against the exposed packing, there exists a possibility that the packing is deformed and thereby water enters the waterproof connector housing.
To overcome this problem, it may be possible to fix a protective cover for protecting the exposed packing to the waterproof connector housing. In this case, however, since the protective cover must be of high-pressure waterproof type usable only for the high-quality waterproof type, so that the cost thereof becomes relatively high. In addition, when the packing is covered with an appropriate cover perfectly from the first, there exists another problem in that the engaging condition of the packing cannot be confirmed from the outside after the waterproof connector has been fixed in position.